It made a ton of money overseas, but definitely didn’t live up to the expected hype. Kind of a success then? Definitely not what the studio was hoping for, but it is the biggest ever opening weekend for a Warner Bros picture in China? I guess that is good?
I thought it was O.K., but I liked the book a lot more.
I never read the book. Unlike some other movies though, I wouldn’t actually classify it as bad. Interesting about overseas. These days though the USA seems like second fiddles for a lot of movies. I guess that makes everyone under us even less pleased.
Keep it that way, it’s terrible.
Disagree. I thought the book was a fun, if insubstantial, read. Armada, on the other hand, was downright awful.
Did you read it?
I think most people liked the book a lot.
Yes. I felt compelled to finish it at the time because it was getting so much buzz in geek circles, possibly the worst book I ever finished. It’s not as clear cut now in regards to popular opinion of it, as there’s been a sizable backlash against it where a good amount of people dislike it strongly.
For sure there is a backlash, but back when I read the book in 2012, almost anyone had to say about the book was effusive in praise. This was the book that EVERYONE was recommending people to read. \
I mean, this argument has already played out upthread. I think that in 2011, writing a book banking on 80’s nostalgia in a standard rags to riches hero story was a fun summer sci fi read. I also think that nostalgia culture has exploded since then, and feels a bit worn at this point. It isn’t going to win any book of the year awards, but I would hardly categorize it as bad.
Hey, @Nesrie, I read this article on the Verge a little while back, and your comments about RPO are echoed in it. I haven’t actually watched the referenced Netflix show “Kiss Me First” (it’s in my constantly-growing queue), but it might be more what you were looking for.
Oh this does look interesting. I’ll have to heck out it.
I didn’t hate Ready Player One, but it was so specific to what i imagine is a young man’s ideal that that didn’t help with the other weaker parts. I didn’t penalize the movie for it though, not more than a general lack of interest. It’s fine for young adult movies to focus on their audience like that.
I watched the first three last night and thought they were very good. BUT the comparisons to Ready Player One only go so far. Kiss Me First is much more interested in the characters and their challenges, much less interested in the technology, and not at all interested in the retro jokes.
Diego
And that’s what the Verge article states, multiple times, very clearly. I recommended it because Nesrie said things like this:
Which were echoed in the article by things like this:
So I figured she might like it. Also, it reminded me of things she’s said about her own gaming groups and the like. I really should get around to watching it myself.
Aaw man. This is a series. It’s dangerous for me to get into Netflix series. I don’t have enough control not to binge my life away when a season is released. I might try it at holiday vacation time though.
Only six episodes! But yeah. That’s part of why I haven’t turned it on yet either. Too many shows! Too many games!
Finally saw it on HBO. It was interesting enough I wanted to see it to the end, but the differences from the book were disappointing. The race instead of the D&D Adventure/Joust puzzle didn’t work for me, though the CG in the race was certainly impressive.
I don’t see what the addition of the bad guy with the holes in his body did for the story.
The ending bothered me too. He decides not to sign the document and then as soon as he’s out of the game he gets handed a document to sign by lawyers and he signs it.
It’s kind of a dumb movie, really. For instance, they show people playing the game with visors on running down a street in the real world. Really? They will be colliding with stuff. It’s not augmented reality. It’s VR. The main villain’s office has zero security and he leaves his password lying around?
I wasn’t a big fan of the book. I liked it a lot initially but it was one of those books that as I worked towards the ending I liked it less and less. It would have worked better as a mini-series. There was a bit much to fit into a movie.
I did like the addition of The Shining. I thought that was a lot of fun.
These weren’t even in the book? That’s so strange. They seemed pretty important in the movie.
I thought this was super weird too. I tried to dismiss it as a this just a visual thing they did. I assumed that wasn’t in the book.
The three keys were in the book but the first key was going through one of the old D&D adventure modules and at the end beating a wizard at the joust arcade game. I guess Spielberg wanted something more visual so he threw that out and added the race.
The second key was a different challenge in the book as well. I honestly don’t remember what the third key challenge was.
In the book the corporation was the bad guy but as I recall it was just that army of corporate soldiers. There was no hired mercenary like in the movie.
I did like how they were in The Shining in the movie. That’s sort of like the book. He did go into a movie, but in the book the movie didn’t deviate at all. He actually played the part of one of the characters and was required to recite every line from memory or else he would fail the test. It wasn’t The Shining either, but another iconic 80’s movie.
In the book (and movie) it really becomes ridiculous that this guy would give away a trillion dollar company to someone who knew the most meaningless of trivia, all that 80s stuff. In the book they had to know all the Punky Brewster episodes, all the 80s iconic movies, all the video games and computer games from the 80s, etc. In fact I’d say it was nigh impossible to know all the 80s trivia the protagonist knew in the book given that he had only studied it for five years while also going to school and also playing the game in Oasis all that time as well.
The third key challenge in the book was Adventure and its Easter Egg, so that was the one challenge in the movie that was presented more or less like the one in the book. I don’t remember the book having that bit about not signing the contract though, which, as noted above, did not come off well.
It was the challenge to beat Zork and put the treasures in the recreation of his house.
Did this keep the 2112 references from the book? Because, and I’ll admit I’m an easy sell here, that was one of those nerd out moments that worked best for me.
I loved the book, because other than some of the US-centric references, mainly music/TV everything else encapuslated my 80s nerd phase perfectly.
Likewise, and I was disappointed. :(